It's Good to Be Home

We are home again with no immediate plans to return to Florida. It’s really nice to be sleeping in our own bed again. The air bed we slept on was good for two weeks, but wasn’t so great the third week. I do miss being with the grandsons. Their youthful exuberance was catching, but it can also wear a person out. I’m ready for slower days, without places we need to be or things we have to do.

We had three weeks’ worth of mail to get through upon our return. Bills never stop, do they? The immediate ones have been taken care of. More will be coming in, in the next couple of weeks. We weren’t pinching pennies while away. Credit cards make it easy to spend more than you’d planned.

I have a small pile of seed catalogs already. I’m not ready to go through those yet. It will be a while before I have to start planning a garden. I’m sure I’ve missed out on some super early bird specials, but right now I don’t care. Worrying about what to plant next summer can wait.

The first meal I cooked after our return was a variation on hamburger and macaroni. I browned some hamburger, added a couple smaller onions, chopped up, and seasoned the meat with freshly ground pepper, some smoked paprika, a bit of Chile pepper, and a scant amount of red pepper flakes. Then I tossed in a can of tomato sauce, a can of water, and several tomatoes I’d frozen. Then I added a couple handfuls of spiral pasta and some sliced pepperoni. All of this only dirtied one pan since I let the noodles cook in the pan with the browned meat. I really enjoyed it, but Dennis thought it was just a bit spicy.

During our trip, we went to the Ringling Museum. There was a huge display of how circus tents were set up back in the heyday of that entertainment. Children today have no idea how those shows drew in crowds. They would have an entire train come in, and people from miles around would take off a day to come see the show. I was fascinated with the information on the cook tent that fed the workers and entertainers. The plaque said they’d order supplies well in advance to be delivered early on the day of the show.

A typical order included two barrels of sugar, 30 gallons of milk, 36 bags of table salt, 50 bushels of potatoes, 110 dozen oranges, 200 pounds of tea and coffee, 226 dozen eggs, 255 pounds of butter, 350 pounds of salad, 1,300 pounds of fresh vegetables, 2,270 loaves of bread, 2,470 pounds of fresh meat, and 3,600 eats of corn. And that was just for the people. The amount of supplies for the animals must have been staggering. It made me grateful that I only had to cook for seven to 10 people at a time, during seeding and harvesting, and those times usually only lasted a couple weeks at a time. I can’t imagine being responsible for feeding huge crews all the time.

The display I was most interested in was a small one about Gunter Gebel-Williams. I’d been to his circus as a teen when my dad was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany. Gunter was an animal trainer, the first to have tigers and elephants in the ring at the same time. His family owned and ran a circus in Europe, and he later joined the Ringling and Barnum and Bailey Circus. The Ringling Museum has one of his elephant blankets on display.

The Ringling family has a huge estate in Florida, encompassing 60 acres. They have a mansion crammed full of art, and the grounds are spectacular. There’s a rose garden. There’s a reflecting pool. There’s a playground for children. There’s a pool with koi and soft-shelled turtles. The mansion filled with art was awe-inspiring. It was hard to believe how much money they must have made from the circus.

I’ll reiterate I’m really glad to be home again. It’s nice to have the slower pace of life. I like lesser traffic. I like fewer people about. I like my space. I did like the warmth and greenery there, but I also like having distinct seasons. But I will say I prefer my winter weather to stay above zero degrees, with milder winds. Right now is more than acceptable. Too bad I’m not in charge of that.